[Freedombox-discuss] observations of a semi-technical user

[Sunil Mohan Adapa]

On 12/11/2015 10:57 PM, znoteer at hailmail.net wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I've just installed fbx 0.6 with plinth 0.7.1 on sid.  I thought I would
> share the bumps I encountered along the way.
> 
> The first I have already mentioned on irc, and Sunil has responded.  I
> include it here for  completeness.  I think that asking users on install
> if they want to activate macchanger is beyond the technical skill of a
> part of the targeted audience for freedombox.  MAC addresses will be
> confused with IP addresses.  I think it would be better to choose a
> sensible default for the user, or offer more of an explanation of what
> macchanger is and why someone might want, or might want not, to use it.

Macchanger is kind of broken right now.  I created a bugs to track this
problem[1] along with another bug[2].

> 
> Second, since applications can be installed via Plinth, I think it would
> make sense that they also be uninstallable via Plinth.  So far I've only
> installed mumble-server, but I noticed there was no option to uninstall
> if I change my mind about wanting to run a server.  I can disable it,
> but that isn't the same as removing it.

This is in progress[3]

> 
> Lastly is the fbx user.  Currently, users are told that if they don't
> have hardware corresponding to the available images, they can have
> freedombox by installing it on an existing debian system.  It's
> recommended that it be a fresh install.  But, they need to be warned to
> setup that fresh install using fbx as the username of the first user
> account created during install.  I got locked out of my box and had to
> reinstall debian because the user name I created for that first account
> during install was not fbx.

I created a bug to track this problem[4].

> 
> At the same time, I wonder if it's wise to have a known user name that
> is the same on all fbx's.  It seems like an attack vector.  Would it be
> possible, given all the setup you do in the background on first setup,
> to not have to use that name for the admin user? In other words, would
> it be possible to let the person setting up the box choose the name of
> their admin user?

This will likely be fixed this release by removing the password on fbx
user and with a special tool that sets passwords inside images if
necessary a user is necessary[5].

> 
> Anyway, I'm super stoked about how fast you guys are making progress.  I
> can't wait to play more in the coming days.
> 
> Thanks for all the help you given so far, and good luck as you move
> forward.
> 

Thanks for the valuable feedback.

Links:

1) http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=807724
2) https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/issues/48
3) https://github.com/freedombox/Plinth/issues/266
4) https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=807725
5) https://github.com/freedombox/freedom-maker/pull/37

-- 
Sunil

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